Commentary — Ten things runners should avoid this Valentine’s Day

Coach Joe English

So, it’s Valentine’s Day tomorow and I know that schools of runners will be out on their long runs in the morning. In fact, as I think about it, the fact that Valentine’s Day is on Saturday morning leads me to believe that it would be a good idea for most people to get their runs out of the way Saturday and not leave them for Sunday morning. Having a long run hanging over your head might cause some runners to behave badly during Valentine’s Day festivities, which no one really wants to see.

This lead me to come up with ten things that runners would want to avoid this Valentine’s Day to keep themselves from looking silly and potentially ruining a good date.

Ten Things Runners Should Avoid This Valentine’s Day
1. Leaving early from your Valentine’s Day dinner, so that you can get an extra 1/2 hour of sleep before your long run on Sunday morning.
2. Asking your date to park the car for you, while you wait in the restaurant, to conserve energy for your long run.
3. Drinking Gatorade with your 5-star dinner in lieu of wine to make sure that you stay well hydrated for your run.
4. Wearing running shoes out on your Valentine’s Day date in order to break them in and make sure that your mole skin stays in place when you’re walking around.
5. Taking a 20 mile detour on the way to your special dinner in order to measure out the course that you’ll be running in the morning, missing your reservations in the process.
6. Working on your hydration to the point that you need to leave the table every five minutes to pee.
7. Wearing your new sport-bra under your dinner dress to make sure that it fits correctly.
8. Ordering two pasta dishes for dinner in order to “carb load” when your date is paying the bill.
9. Offering to race the valet to your car as a way to warm-up for the next morning’s run.
10. Making your date pay for dinner so that you have extra money for gels and hydration fluids in the morning.

Who says that romance and running don’t mix? Avoiding these situations might make for a better Valentine’s Day runners. Enjoy the day!